An efficient optical system and beam transmission and reception pathway design of particular applicability in the implementation of a cost effective, compact laser-based range-finding instrument. The design is one in which the visual pathway may be made coincident with either the laser transmission or laser reception pathway and may conveniently be implemented in conjunction with a low cost liquid crystal display (LCD) aiming reticle and head up (HUD) information display or in conjunction with a light emitting diode (LED) element. In accordance with the present invention, relatively inexpensive plate mirrors may be used to replace more conventional and costly prism-based implementations.
|
14. A system for a beam transmitting and receiving instrument comprising:
a beam emitting device for producing an emitted beam along a first path and redirected via a beam redirecting device toward a target along a second path;
a beam detecting device for receiving a reflection of said emitted beam through a reception aperture along said second path;
a first at least partially reflective surface disposed at an angle transversely along said second path for allowing said reflection of said emitted beam to substantially pass therethrough to said beam detecting device;
a second at least partially reflective surface disposed proximately to said first at least partially reflective surface, such that a visual image of said target is presented at a visual aperture of said instrument through said reception aperture along a visual path substantially comprising said second path to said first and second at least partially reflective surfaces to said visual aperture.
1. A system for a beam transmitting and receiving instrument comprising:
a beam emitting device for producing an emitted beam along a first path;
a beam redirecting device for intercepting said emitted beam along said first path and producing a redirected beam for direction through a transmission aperture toward a target along a second path;
a first at least partially reflective surface disposed at an angle transversely along said first path;
a second at least partially reflective surface disposed proximately to said first at least partially reflective surface, such that a visual image of said target is presented at a visual aperture of said instrument along a visual path substantially comprising said second path and said first path to said first and second at least partially reflective surfaces to said visual aperture; and
a light emitting display viewable through said second at least partially reflective surface, and wherein said second at least partially reflective surface comprises a dichroic mirror for allowing light produced by said light emitting display to at least partially pass through from said light emitting display to said visual aperture.
2. The system of
3. The system of
4. The system of
6. The system of
7. The system of
8. The system of
10. The system of
11. The system of
12. The system or
13. The system of
15. The system of
17. The system of
18. The system of
19. The system of
21. The system of
22. The system of
23. The system of
25. The system or
|
The present invention relates, in general, to the field of signal transmitting and receiving rangefinding devices. More particularly, the present invention relates to a simplified, cost effective and efficient optical system and beam pathway design for laser-based distance measuring, or range-finding, devices.
Representative implementations of optical pathways for various optical instruments, including laser-based rangefinders, are described in, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,236,504 issuing May 22, 2001 for “Method and Device for Adjusting Eye Range by Means of Displacements of Prisms and Ocular Lenses”; U.S. Pat. No. 6,292,314 issuing Sep. 18, 2001 for “Prism System for Image Inversion in a Visual Observation Beam Path”; and U.S. Pat. No. 6,344,894 issuing Feb. 5, 2002 for: “Optical Axis Adjusting Structure for a Range Finder”. These comparatively complicated designs require the use of two or more relatively costly prisms along with as many as six or seven polished faces resulting in large, expensively implemented systems having little flexibility in the use of more than one type of in-sight display technologies.
While generally representative of the current state of the art in such designs, the afore-mentioned patents all describe systems of lenses and prisms which are relatively complex to implement, space inefficient, as well as costly to manufacture and assemble. Therefore, a need exists for a simplified, cost-effective and efficient optical system and beam pathway design which provides significant advantages over current conventional designs while nevertheless providing an accurate foundation for a compact, range-finding instrument having excellent beam transmission/reception and optical properties.
Disclosed herein is an optical system and beam transmission and reception pathway design of particular applicability in the implementation of a cost effective, compact laser-based range-finding instrument. The design is one in which the visual pathway may be made coincident with either the laser transmission or laser reception pathway and may conveniently be implemented in conjunction with a low cost liquid crystal display (LCD) aiming reticle and head up (HUD) information display or in conjunction with a light emitting diode (LED) element. In accordance with the present invention, relatively inexpensive plate mirrors may be used to replace more conventional and costly prism-based implementations.
Particularly disclosed herein is a system for a beam transmitting and receiving instrument which comprises a beam emitting device for producing an emitted beam along a first path, a beam redirecting device for intercepting the emitted beam and producing a redirected beam for direction through a transmission aperture toward a target along a second path, a first at least partially reflective surface disposed at an angle transversely along the first path and a second at least partially reflective surface disposed proximately to the first at least partially reflective surface. Functionally, a visual image of the target is presented at a visual aperture of the instrument along a visual path substantially comprising the second path and the first path to the first and second at least partially reflective surfaces to the visual aperture.
Also particularly disclosed herein is a system for a beam transmitting and receiving instrument comprising a beam emitting device for producing an emitted beam along a first path, a beam redirecting device for intercepting a reflection of the emitted beam through a reception aperture and producing a redirected beam for direction toward a beam detecting device along a second path, a first at least partially reflective surface disposed at an angle transversely along the second path for allowing the reflection of the emitted beam to substantially pass therethrough to the beam detecting device and a second at least partially reflective surface disposed proximately to the first at least partially reflective surface. Functionally, a visual image of the target is presented at a visual aperture of the instrument through the reception aperture along a visual path substantially comprising the second path to the first and second at least partially reflective surfaces to the visual aperture.
The aforementioned and other features and objects of the present invention and the manner of attaining them will become more apparent and the invention itself will be best understood by reference to the following description of a preferred embodiment taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein:
With reference now to
The system 100 comprises, in pertinent part, a laser transmission board 102 including a laser light emitting element 104. The laser light emitting element 104 projects a pulsed infrared laser beam along a laser transmission path through a first lens 106 and an infrared dichroic mirror 108 to an Amici prism 110. The Amici prism 110, also sometimes referred to as a “roof prism” is a right angle prism in which the hypotenuse has been replaced by a roof wherein two fiat faces meet at a 90° angle. The laser beam exits the Amici prism 110 towards the objective lens 112. Objective lens 112 collimates the laser beam towards the target.
The focal length of the laser transmission path 114 is, in a preferred embodiment of the present invention, substantially 60.0 mm while the focal length of the objective lens 112 is substantially between 130.0-140.0 mm.
Laser pulses reflected from a target are received by the system 100 as indicated by the laser reception path 116 through an aspheric lens 118. An aspheric lens is one having at least one face which is shaped to a surface of revolution about the lens axis, including conic sections except that of a sphere. Laser light incident upon a laser receiving diode or device 120 is amplified and processed by a receiver board 122. In the exemplary embodiment of the present invention illustrated, the focal length from the aspheric lens 118 to the laser receiving diode 120 is substantially 60.0 mm.
With reference additionally now to
Visible light reflected from the target towards which the laser-based distance measuring device (or laser rangefinder) is aimed, as well as that of surrounding objects and terrain, enters the system 100 through lens 112 along visual path 130 as shown whereupon it impinges upon a beam redirecting device such as an Amici prism 110. Functionally, the Amici prism 110 performs image erection while deflecting the incident light by 90°, which is essentially the same as rotating the image by 180°. In other words, the image is reversed left to right and simultaneously inverted top to bottom.
The visual path 130 is reflected 90° by the Amici prism 110 to be presented to the dichroic mirror 108 where it is reflected back at an acute angle to a full mirror 132. Mirror 132 may, in certain embodiments of the present invention, also comprise a full (or silver) mirror (e.g. when an LCD display is used), a red dichroic (e.g. when an LED display is used) or another mirror type depending upon the particular implementation of an insight, head up display (HUD) as will be more fully described hereinafter. A dichroic mirror is one which is used to selectively reflect light according to its wavelength and not its plane of vibration. The mirror 132 then reflects the incident light back to a viewer, or user, of the laser rangefinder embodying the system 100 through a series of lenses 134 and 136 as shown.
In an embodiment of the system 100 optionally including an insight display, an aiming reticle together with information with respect to the distance from the target measured by the laser rangefinder as well as an indication of the units of measure (e.g. yards, feet, meters, degrees and the like) as well as other system 100 or ancillary target related data may be displayed to the user superimposed upon the visual image received along the visual path 130 by means of a micro-light emitting diode (LED) 138 or other light emitting display device. With respect to the representative embodiment of the present invention illustrated, the LED 138 may be positioned at a slight offset to the centerline of a lens 140 which positioned is in line with an aspheric relay lens 142. The aspheric relay lens 142 is itself, positioned at a slight offset to the centerline of the mirror 132, in this case a dichroic mirror, which allows a view of the reticle and any accompanying visual information to pass through the mirror 132 to be viewed together with the target image through the eye piece lenses 134 and 136. The lenses 140 and 142 may be conveniently provided as inexpensive molded plastic lenses.
In an alternative embodiment of the system 100 optionally including an insight display, an aiming reticle together with information with respect to the distance from the target measured by the laser rangefinder as well as an indication of the units of measure (e.g. yards, feet, meters, degrees and the like) as well as other system 100 or ancillary target related data may be displayed to the user superimposed upon the visual image received along the visual path 130 by means of a liquid crystal display (LCD) 144 or other similar device. In this alternative embodiment, the mirror 132 may comprise a full mirror in lieu of a dichroic mirror.
It should be noted that in further alternative embodiments of the present invention, the visual path 130 may be coincident with the laser reception path 116 in lieu of the laser transmission path 114 without departing from the scope of the disclosure presented herein. In this regard, the positions of the light emitting element 104 and the light receiving diode or device 120 would be interchanged.
With reference additionally now to
With reference additionally now to
With reference additionally now to
With reference additionally now to
With reference additionally now to
With reference additionally now to
With reference additionally now to
A convenient diopter adjustment wheel 208 also enables the user to pre-focus the visual path of the instrument 200 by altering the relative positions of the lenses 134 and 136 (
While there have been described above the principles of the present invention in conjunction with specific components and various arrangements thereof, it is to be clearly understood that the foregoing description is made only by way of example and not as a limitation to the scope of the invention. Particularly, it is recognized that the teachings of the foregoing disclosure will suggest other modifications to those persons skilled in the relevant art. Such modifications may involve other features which are already known per se and which may be used instead of or in addition to features already described herein. Although claims have been formulated in this application to particular combinations of features, it should be understood that the scope of the disclosure herein also includes any novel feature or any novel combination of features disclosed either explicitly or implicitly or any generalization or modification thereof which would be apparent to persons skilled in the relevant art, whether or not such relates to the same invention as presently claimed in any claim and whether or not it mitigates any or all of the same technical problems as confronted by the present invention. The applicants hereby reserve the right to formulate new claims to such features and/or combinations of such features during the prosecution of the present application or of any further application derived therefrom.
Patent | Priority | Assignee | Title |
8079713, | Sep 12 2005 | ELBIT SYSTEMS LTD | Near eye display system |
8411257, | May 11 2010 | Laser Technology, Inc.; Kama-Tech (HK) Limited; LASER TECHNOLOGY, INC ; KAMA-TECH HK LIMITED | Folded path laser rangefinder architecture and technique incorporating a single circuit board for mounting of both laser emitting and detecting elements |
9151603, | Sep 13 2012 | Laser Technology, Inc.; Kama-Tech (HK) Limited | Compact folded signal transmission and image viewing pathway design and visual display technique for laser rangefinding instruments |
D842723, | Sep 27 2017 | BUSHNELL INC | Rangefinder |
D875200, | Jan 03 2018 | BUSHNELL INC | Rangefinder display device |
D926606, | Nov 01 2017 | BUSHNELL INC | Rangefinder |
D954171, | Jan 03 2018 | Bushnell Inc. | Rangefinder display device |
Patent | Priority | Assignee | Title |
3424516, | |||
3484149, | |||
3541919, | |||
3814496, | |||
4165936, | Dec 03 1976 | Wild Heerbrugg Aktiengesellschaft | Coaxial transmitting and receiving optics for an electro-optic range finder |
4810088, | Aug 16 1984 | Hughes Aircraft Company | Laser rangefinder and thermal imager with enhanced scanning mirror control |
4886347, | Feb 22 1988 | Range-finding binocular | |
5126549, | May 16 1990 | Nikon Corporation | Automatic focusing telescope |
5161242, | Jan 24 1989 | Automated repeating sextant (ARS) | |
5245469, | Apr 10 1991 | Olympus Optical Co., Ltd. | Real image type finder optical system |
5291263, | Mar 18 1992 | Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology | Laser range finder using a nonlinear crystal |
5444568, | Sep 30 1992 | ITT Corporation | Consumer night vision viewing apparatus |
5517297, | Oct 13 1994 | RAYTHEON CANADA LIMITED | Rangefinder with transmitter, receiver, and viewfinder on a single common optical axis |
5694202, | Jan 22 1996 | HE HOLDINGS, INC , A DELAWARE CORP ; Raytheon Company | Universal boresight tool for small arms weapons |
5745287, | Oct 31 1996 | L-3 Communications Corporation | Reticle assembly for optical sight |
5774208, | Jun 19 1995 | Sokkia Co., Ltd. | Coaxial electro-optical distance meter |
5781281, | May 30 1995 | Fuji Photo Optical Co., Ltd. | Distance measuring infrared projection system |
5835276, | Feb 21 1996 | Olympus Optical Co., Ltd. | Optical system having compound prism design to reduce ghosts and plares |
6031606, | Aug 03 1995 | Leica Geosystems AG | Process and device for rapid detection of the position of a target marking |
6236504, | Dec 21 1999 | Asia Optical Co., Inc. | Method and device for adjusting eye range by means of displacements of prisms and ocular lenses |
6292314, | Jul 15 1999 | Leica Camera AG | Prism system for image inversion in a visual observation beam path |
6344894, | Jan 05 2000 | ASIA OPTICAL CO , INC | Optical axis adjusting structure for a range finder |
6411371, | Sep 02 1998 | Leica Geosystems AG | Device for optical distance measurement |
6945657, | Oct 19 2000 | PENTAX Corporation | Surveying instrument |
7031062, | Mar 18 2003 | ASIA OPTICAL CO , INC | Assembly of beam splitters |
20040046953, | |||
20050001168, |
Executed on | Assignor | Assignee | Conveyance | Frame | Reel | Doc |
Aug 09 2004 | DUNNE, JEREMY G | LASER TECHNOLOGY, INC | ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST SEE DOCUMENT FOR DETAILS | 015709 | /0614 | |
Aug 09 2004 | DUNNE, JEREMY G | KAMA-TECH HK LIMITED | ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST SEE DOCUMENT FOR DETAILS | 015709 | /0614 | |
Aug 20 2004 | Laser Technology, Inc. | (assignment on the face of the patent) | / | |||
Aug 20 2004 | Kama-Tech (HK) Limited | (assignment on the face of the patent) | / |
Date | Maintenance Fee Events |
Aug 24 2011 | M1551: Payment of Maintenance Fee, 4th Year, Large Entity. |
Aug 25 2015 | M1552: Payment of Maintenance Fee, 8th Year, Large Entity. |
Aug 14 2019 | M1553: Payment of Maintenance Fee, 12th Year, Large Entity. |
Date | Maintenance Schedule |
Mar 25 2011 | 4 years fee payment window open |
Sep 25 2011 | 6 months grace period start (w surcharge) |
Mar 25 2012 | patent expiry (for year 4) |
Mar 25 2014 | 2 years to revive unintentionally abandoned end. (for year 4) |
Mar 25 2015 | 8 years fee payment window open |
Sep 25 2015 | 6 months grace period start (w surcharge) |
Mar 25 2016 | patent expiry (for year 8) |
Mar 25 2018 | 2 years to revive unintentionally abandoned end. (for year 8) |
Mar 25 2019 | 12 years fee payment window open |
Sep 25 2019 | 6 months grace period start (w surcharge) |
Mar 25 2020 | patent expiry (for year 12) |
Mar 25 2022 | 2 years to revive unintentionally abandoned end. (for year 12) |